65. Confederate Monument Payne/Bradley Cemetery, Augusta (Bracken County)
Granite headstone, 1903
Inscription: In memory of eight unknown Confederate soldiers killed at Augusta, Ky / Sept. 27, 1862.
Erected in 1903 by the John B. Hood Camp of the United Confederate Veterans, this headstone marks the graves of eight unidentified soldiers who died at the Battle of Augusta.
The monument cost was $550. It is carved to represent a Confederate battle flag draped across the top.The Battle of Augusta was fought on September 27, 1862, when Confederate forces led by Colonel Basil Duke approached the Ohio River town.
Aware of the Confederate presence, about 100 Home Guards, led by Col. Joshua Bradford, barricaded themselves in houses along the main road while Federal gunboats approached the Confederate soldiers. Duke’s men fired on the gunboats and forced them to flee, but the Home Guard maintained their positions, firing on Confederate soldiers when they tried to enter the town. Duke set fire to many of the houses and the gunfire ensued for about twenty minutes. Twenty-one Confederates and 15 Home Guard were killed, and the Home Guard was suppressed, but the battle exhausted Duke’s supplies and prevented him from moving on to Cincinnati.
